The present invention relates to fluid machinery, and more particularly to high pressure casings for such machinery.
Fluid machinery such as centrifugal compressors each typically includes a casing for containing working components such as one or more impellers mounted on a rotatable shaft. The casing includes one or more inlets for directing fluid inwardly toward the compressor working components and one or more outlets for directing pressurized fluid outwardly from the casing for subsequent processing or ultimate usage. Further, such casings are often formed as an assembly of two or more separate casings, such as a first casing for housing the compression working components and a second casing for housing a driver (e.g., electric motor, gas turbine, etc.). As such, the casing assembly requires one or more coupler devices to connect adjacent pairs of the casings, which generally must enable removable coupling of the casings to permit periodic maintenance and/or repair of the compressor or driver components.